The present invention relates to a high temperature oil containment boom cover blanket for conventional oil containment booms which allows for the burning of spilled or leaked oil during offshore oil spill cleanup operations.
Conventional oil containment booms are elongated cylinders having a generally circular cross-section. These booms float in water with approximately one-third of the boom submerged below the surface of the water forming a floating barrier to the spilled oil. The booms are typically stored in a roll on the deck of a ship and deployed downwind of a spill where it floats on the surface of the water and temporarily contains the spill.
Early oil spill cleanup programs were directed to recovery of the spilled oil or to dispersal through the use of emulsifiers or surfactants. Recently, efforts have been directed to burning the spilled oil on the water surface. In order to burn the oil efficiently, the oil slick must be thickened and contained by the boom during the burning process when temperatures in the order of 1100.degree. C. are common.
Two fireproof oil containment booms for in situ burning of oil spills were recently exhibited at the 1985 Oil Spill Conference held at Los Angeles, Calif., Feb. 25 to 27, 1985.
According to its brochure, the TTI Geotechnical Resources Ltd. Fireproof Oilspill Containment Boom consists of alternate rigid floatation units 1.668 m long, 1.78 m high weighing 108.8 kg and flexible (accordian folded) panels 0.906 m long, 1.70 m high weighing 102 kg connected together by connectors 0.07 m long, 1.67 m high weighing 10 kg. The boom is of stainless steel construction and the maximum exposure temperature is stated to be 980.degree. C.
The available literature for the Globe International Inc. Pyroboom fireproof oil spill barrier states that it utilizes a unique blend of refractory and metallic materials in a woven fabric coated with a high temperature polymer coating (silicone rubber). Floatation is provided by a series of stainless steel hemispheres, containing a high temperature resistant, closed cellular material. Two such hemispheres with the woven fabric enclosed between them are bolted together to form spheres 16 3/16 inches (41 cm) in diameter spaced 34 inches (86 cm) apart at their centerlines along the length of the woven fabric. The boom has an overall height of 30 inches (76 cm) with a draft of 20 inches (51 cm) and a freeboard of 10 inches (25 cm), and weighs 8 to 10 pounds per lineal foot (11.9 to 14.5 kg/m). The operating temperature range of the boom is stated to be -55.degree. F. to +2400.degree. F. (-48.degree. C. to 1315.degree. C.).
Another fire resistant oil containment boom system designated as the SeaCurtain ReelPak FireGard Oil-Fire Containment Boom System is described in a brochure issued by Kepner Plastics Fabricators, Inc. That boom system appears to comprise compartmented circular sections containing a continuous stainless steel coil wire covered with a double walled foam-containing refractory fabric with an additional portion extending downwardly from the circular section, the bottom edge of the downwardly extending section having a chain ballast member attached thereto. The boom is stored on a reel from which it is deployed. The boom is stated to have an operating temperature range from -40.degree. F. to over 2000.degree. F. (-40.degree. to 1093.degree. C.) and, depending on model, weighs 2.2 lbs. (3.1 kg) to 4.2 lbs. (5.9 kg/m).